Folding table for railway-cars.



PATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906.

R. L. SPENCER. FOLDING TABLE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 29. 1905.

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|\/E TEI i \A/ITHEEEEE: MM (2Q PATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906.

R. L. SPENCER. FOLDING TABLE FOR RAILWAY CARS APPLICATION FILED D110.29. 1905.

6 SHEBTSSHBET 2.

VIII/ll PATBNTED SEPT. 4, 1906.

R. L. SPENCER.

FOLDING TABLE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 29. 1905.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3 WITHEEEEE:

No. 830,187. PATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906.

R. L. SPENCER.

FOLDING TABLE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED 1320.29. 1905.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

No. 830,187..- BATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906.

R. L. SPENCER.

FOLDING TABLE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION rnmn mm. 29. 1905.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

I- II III! nection with the accompanying UNITED srAg as PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 56pl5.4, 190s;

Application filed December 29, 1905. Serial No. 298.881.

To (all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RALPH L. SPENCER, a citizen of the United States,residing in Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Tables forRailway- Cars, of which the following, taken in conspecification.

My invention relates to railwaycars provided with closets occup 'ng saces between the windows in the si e wal s of the car;.

and the improvements consist principally in providing folding doors forsuch closets and in affordlng means for utilizin such doors, or as theequivalent thereof the panels between the car-windows, as tables fordining or other purposes.

In carrying my invention into effect I have hinged the doors of theseclosets at the lower end to the side wall of the car, provided supportsfor the doors when in horizontal osition, and added hinged leaves toeach si e of the'door, which leaves are arranged to fold one upon eachface of the door when closed against the side wall of the car or toextend in the lane of each of said doors to increase its wi( th for atable when the doors are supported horizontally as such table; and theinvention further consists in devices and the arrangement andcombinations of parts, to be hereinafter more fully described.

The invention is herein described, and illustrated in the drawings asapplied to a railwa -car; but it is also useful in the state-rooms ancabins of steamships, naval vessels, yachts, and the like, where thenecessarilylimited space makes such an arrangement par ticularlydesirable.

Reference is made to the drawings accompanying this application, inwhich- Figure 1 is a plan of my table attached to the side of a car andshowing a portion of the car-wall in section. Fig. 2 is an inverted lanof the table. Fig. 3 is a side elevation o the table, supported by thefloor and wall of the car; Fi 4, an end elevation of the table viewedo1n the aisle of the car; Fig. 5, a cross-section of the table, showinan end brace in place; Fig. 6, a plan of t e center brace; Fig. 7, asection of the socket in closetdoor for center brace; Fig. 8, asectional elevation of the center brace, showing devices for attachingthe brace to the door of the closet and the side leaves; Fig. 9, a planof the socket in closet-door for the center brace;

drawmgs, 1s a Fig. l 10, a side elevation of the folding leg of e thetable; Fig. 11, a plan of plates 1n side leaves of table holding ends ofcenter brace; Fig. 12, a cross-section of the step in carfloor fortable-leg; Fig. 13-, 8. Ian of table-leg step; Fig. 14, a longitudinasection of the hinge and bolt for one side leaf of closet-door Fig. 15,a lan of thegarts of Fi 14; Fig. 16, a plan 0 hinge an latch-ho dingleaf to closet-door. horizontally; Fi 17, a cross-section of the arts ofFig. lfifi ig. 18, a plan of hinge and liook holding leaf to closet-doorhorizontally; Fi 19, a cross-section of the parts of Fi 18 ig. 20, aview of leaf-bracket and step t erefor to be put in window-sill; Fig. 21a plan of the bracket-ste to be put in window-sill; Fig. 22, a verticasection of the step as in Fig. 21.

Between each pair of windows the closets 1 are formed in the car-wall 2.These closets are in ordinary constructions vacant spaces closed byornamental panels. Each closet is closed by a door 3, which heretoforehas contained a pane of glass. I hinge the bottom of this closet-door at4 to the car-wall so it may drop outward from the oar-wall or close thecloset. I hinge a leaf 5 at one side of the closet-door so it may foldto the inner face of the closet-door when covering the closet or 85extend in the plane of the closet-door when the door is horizontallysupported by the folding le 6. The lower portion of this leg is insertedin the step 7 in the car-floor, given a quarter-turn, so the pin may 8look in the step formed in the car-floor. Then the pins 9 in the upperpivoted portions of the leg are sprung into the slots 10 in the top endof the closet-door 3, thereby sup orting and preventin motion of thesaid oor. To temporarily hold the leaf 5 in horizontal position, thehinges 11 uniting the leaf 5 to the closetdoor 3 are formed to includethe slidin s ring-actuated bolt 12 in one member an t e socket 13 forthe bolt in the other member of the hinge. In 0 ening out the leaf 5will ress the sprin bo t into the member of the 'nge attache to theclosetdoor until the leaf and door are in the same plane, when the boltsnaps into the socket 13, holding the leaf 1o 5 in place. To release thebolt, the catch 14is "pressed, thereby withdrawing the bolt from thesocket '13, when the leaf 5 may be folded to the inside of thecloset-door.

The leaf 15 is hinged at the side of the closet 7 door 3 .so it may foldover the outer face thereof and constitute the exposed surface of thedoor ofthe closet when attached to'the car-Waller a part of the tablewhen extended horizontally. The exposed I face of the leaf may befinished on the wood in panel style or may be fitted with a mirror 45',as convenience -may indicate. This leaf 15 is temporarily heldhorizontally in place. by the latch 16 and the hook 17, formed upon thehinges thereof. The latch 16 is pivoted in a boss 18, formed on themember of the hinge attached to the leaf 15 and acts to lock the leaf 15in horizontal position by the contact of with the cam 20, which isfastened near the edge of the closet-door 3. The hook in similar manneris pivoted in the boss 21; which is formed on the member of the hingeattached to the leaf 15 and acts to lock the leaf 15 in the car-wall, ora snap-catch on the car-wall may enter a socket in the end of the leaf15 in the construction as described.

As considerable wei ht or downward pressure is frequently a pied to thetable, it is necessary to hold t e leaves 5 and 15 very rigidly extendedfrom the closet-door 3. This is best accomplished by stifi Wooden bracesremovably attached below the parts of the table. The brace 25 is fittedwith the center pin 26, having wings 27 radiating outward and with thetwo end pins 28, each having projecting heads. The center pin '26 entersa socket 29 of homologous construction, and the pins 28 enter the slots30 in the plates 31, one of which is fastened to the leaf 5 and theother to the leaf 15, then the brace 25 is revolved until the pins 28snap into the recesses 32, and the wings 27 of the center pin of thebrace 25 having meanwhile interlocked with the wings 33 of the socket 29in the closet-door the brace 25 becomes firmly attached to thecloset-door 3 and to the leaves 5 and 15. The end braces 34 are eachfitted with headed pins 35, and slotted pins 36 are secured to theleaves 5 and 15 and to the closet-door 3. The pins 35 are inserted inone end of the slots in the plates 36 and pushed along in the said slotsuntil the pins 36 snap past the springs 37 in the three members of thetable, when the end braces become firmly fastened to the parts of thetable. "The table is further supported by the brackets 38, which areinserted in the steps 39 in Window-sills 40, then given a quarterturn tolock the pins 41 to the steps 39. Then the leaves 5 and 15 are liftedslightly and the ends 42 of the brackets are inserted in holes 43 in thecorners of the leaves 5 and 15 and locked therein by the spring-latches44,

'equally well to the state-rooms and cabins of vessels, and I claim suchuse as scope of my invention.

Having described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the Within the United States- 1. In a railway-car, thecombination with a closet in the wall thereof, of a door, said doorbeing composed .of three leaves, one leaf being hinged at one end to thewall at the bottom of the closet, the other tWo leaves being hinged tothe first-named leaf to fold one upon each face thereof or to' extendoutward in the plane thereof to serve as a table, means to support saidleaves in closed or open position, two of said leaves being adapted toseat within the closet when the door is closed and the third leaf beingadapted to protrude beyond the closet when the door is closed.

2. In a railway-car, a closet-door hinged to the Wall of the car, leaveshinged tothe closetdoor to fold one upon each face thereof or to extendoutward in the plane thereof to serve as a table, means to support andsecure the table in horizontal position, appliances to temporarilymaintain the leaves extended, and devices to hold and lock the leavesextended in the plane of the closet-door, substantially as described.

3, In a railway-car, a closet-door movably connected at its bottomwith-the car-wall, and leaves movably connected with the closetdoor tofold one upon each face thereof or to extend outward therefrom in thesame plane to serve as a table, combined with supports preventing motionof the table from horizontal position, brackets extending from the innerends of the leaves to the car-wall and braces locking the leaves in theplane of the closet-door, substantially as described.

4. In a railway-car, a closet between the car-windows, a door for thecloset hinged to the wall of the car, leaves hinged to each edge of saiddoor, each leaf being of the same size as the door, means to support thesaid door in horizontal position to serve as a table, and a mirrorattached to the face of that leaf which is exposed to view when the saiddoor is fast to the car-wall covering the closet therein, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I have signed'my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

RALPH L. SPENCER.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. CoRNIsH, CHARLES F. PLUMMER.

